Warning: The pun in the title of the post was bad. Like REALLY bad. I won't blame you if you already stopped reading.
Game 3 of 3 on a mini road trip finds the Winnipeg Jets visiting their 3rd adversary in 4 nights. the Boston Bruins are also coming off action on Friday, as they competed with the Detroit Red Wings in an effort that saw them lose 3-2 in shootout. Both teams will be going with their first string keepers, as Ondrej Pavelec and Tim Thomas square off for their respective sides.
The Jets are coming off a 3-1 win over division rival Carolina, as Winnipeg beat the Hurricanes in Raleigh on Friday evening. 3 out of 4 points thus far on the road is a good result, but Winnipeg should strive to obtain more against a foe who has not lost in 11 matches.
Keys to the Game, Lineups and Player Numbers coming up after THE JUMP.
Keys to the Game:
- Physicality: The Jets are going to have to give as much as they take if they don’t want to be smeared on the ice like lipstick on a martini glass. The Bruins are a big physical team, and while no one can match the size of Chara, that doesn’t mean you can’t get in his grill.
- The scorers need to score, the grinders need to grind and the defenders need to defend. Goalkeeping from the goalie won’t hurt either.
- Keep it going: I know the back to back games issue is going to suck, but if the Jets can play at a good tempo like they’ve been doing of late and be the dynamic side they have proven they can be, then this is a winnable game.
- Eric Fehr: Gonna score soon. Just saying…
- Pavelec v Thomas: Yes Thomas is really really ridiculously good
lookingbut he’s beatable, and if Pavs can match him then we got us a hockey game. - Special teams: If the Jets can make the Bruins powerplay look as useless as the Canes’, then there’s hope on that front too. Scoring with the man advantage would be good too.
Jets (GP 22 9-9-4 22 PTS)
Forwards
#9 Evander Kane — #18 Bryan Little — #26 Blake Wheeler
#16 Andrew Ladd –#80 Nik Antropov — #13 Kyle Wellwood
#15 Tanner Glass — #19 Jim Slater — #8 Alexander Burmistrov
#22 Chris Thorburn — #14 Tim Stapleton — #17 Eric Fehr
Defencemen
#5 Mark Stuart — #39 Dustin Byfuglien
#6 Ron Hainsey — #4 Zach Bogosian
#29 Johnny Oduya — #36 Mark Flood
Goaltender
#31 Ondrej Pavelec
Depending on the severity of the issues with Ron Hainsey he might be available again tonight. But until I hear otherwise, Kulda lines up alongside Flood just like last night.
UPDATE: I changed it. I just have a gut feeling Hainsey will be good to go. Arturs Kulda will see press box. Steam Punk and Jason Jaffray are also both on the bubble for that final roster spot.
Da Bears
Forwards
#17 Milan Lucic — #46 David Krejci — #18 Nathan Horton
#19 Tyler Seguin — #37 Patrice Bergeron — #63 Brad Marchand
#67 Benoit Pouliot — #23 Chris Kelly — #49 Rich Peverley
#20 Daniel Paille — #11 Gregory Campbell — #22 Shawn Thornton
Defense
#33 Zdeno Chara — #55 Johnny Boychuk
#14 Joe Corvo — #44 Dennis Seidenberg
#21 Andrew Ference — #54 Adam McQuaid
Goaltender
#30 Tim Thomas
This is the lineup that saw the ice Friday afternoon. I doubt there are changes….but there likely will be just to piss me off.
Player to boo mercilessly: Zdeno Chara, because if you play for Boston you can damn near kill someone on the ice and get away with it. That and he continuously picks fights with people half his size. What a wanker.
Prediction: Boston 4-3 Winnipeg (OT). Yeah that's right…we're getting a point out of this bad boy.
